November 01, 2004
Beware of Greeks (or rather, Relatives) Bearing Gifts
F
or my birthday this year, I received a spanking new nifty Philips waffle maker from my one and only, and dearest sis, May. Ah, I thought it to be a excellent accompaniment to all my other cool kitchen gizmos. Alas, the gift came with a price. May had bought the waffle maker for me so that I could make her waffles for breakfast on weekends! Such a neat plan, huh? Knowing full well that if she had bought the waffle maker for herself, it would only be left languishing on the shelf collecting dust. Instead, she bought it for me (making only a small dent on her volumous pockets), leaving me, her good old big sis, to make her one of her fave breakfasts, waffles.
May practically foisted herself & the folks over to my place this Saturday for waffles. The plan was that she'll come early to help out with the prep work. The arranged time came and went. June did all the work herself. May was nowhere to be found until June was just going to pour the 1st batch of batter into the moulds. Such perfect timing! :)
Anyways, the waffles were a success and a big hit with dad. 
I used the recipe for traditional waffles this time and the waffles came out with a nice crisp exterior and a soft fluffy interior. I also discovered that the color was much nicer using an unoiled mould. A warm golden brown versus a splotchy in places waffle is worth the extra care and effort whilst prying the waffles out of the mould. 
We tried the waffles with all the various breakfast condiments that I have in my well stocked larder and found that it tasted best with butter and the Argentine specialty dulce de leche (caramel spread). Dulce de leche is vastly superior to maple syrup for waffles not only in taste but also in texture. Being of a thicker consistency made it easier to spread it into the squares of the waffles instead of dripping all the plate like maple syrup.
To give credit to May, she did all the washing up, including the tough part like scraping the hardened bits of batter that had overflowed out of the mould onto the waffle maker. Next time I'll try the recipe for crispy waffles...
PS. May brought the lovely flowers from her own little garden!